Staff Performer Spotlight: Frank Colardo's Illustrious Met Career

Frank as the casino bartender., with George Gagnidze as Rigoletto. (Photo: Richard Termine)

All of us here at the Met Artists Newsletter love profiling our hard-working friends in other departments. A few issues ago, we all got to see how busy a staff performer’s life can be through the eyes of Anne Dyas. Now you get an even closer look at one of the Met’s most accomplished staff performers. Frank Colardo has been with the company since the 90’s, and is famously known for being the cowboy in La Fanciulla del West who takes a tumble off the balcony during a bar brawl, among many other important non-singing roles.

This article is a transcription of a live interview on the Met Opera Sirius Channel (Channel 75, to be exact), which was originally broadcast on December 22nd, 2010. Many thanks to Sara Heaton and Liz Sciblo for their transcription skills, and to Daniel Clark Smith and Anne Dyas for their photo assistance.

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Frank flinging himself from the rafters in Fanciulla del West. (Photo: Ken Howard)

Interviewer: Frank Colardo has been a supernumerary at The Metropolitan Opera since the 1990’s. Now, a supernumerary is the operatic equivalent of an extra but Frank certainly does a whole lot more. Audiences will recognize his cameo appearance in recent seasons as The Nose in Shostakovich’s opera of the same title. He was the police commissioner in Berg’s Lulu, he has been the dead (narcoleptic man), Buoso Donati, in Gianni Schicchi, has been the photographer in the sextet from Lucia, he’s been a dresser for Dmitri Hvorostovsky during Eugene Onegin, and as soon as he walked in the door I said you were one of the servants in Don Pasquale, the funny guy who had the wig on that Don Pasquale pulled off! Now, this season here at The Met he is featured doing stunts in La Fanciulla del West and he will be seen as a central focus of the new Willy Decker production of La Traviata that opens Friday. We want to welcome Frank Colardo to Met Opera radio. Hi!

Frank: Hi! Thank you.

I: Tell us what you did in the scene in the act that we were just listening to.

F: Well, I’m on the balcony and I get in a little ruckus with one of the guys, and he throws a punch at me which sends me into the banister. The banister breaks and I lose my balance and of course he wants to push me off. And I leap into the air and hopefully get caught before I hit the ground.

I: Are you a stunt man, actually?

F: No, I’ve never done stunts before.

I: Before this time?

F: Before this time. B.H. Barry, who put together this fight, is a terrific, terrific teacher so he actually got me to do it.

I: Was it hard to make yourself jump off?

F: Well, there’s definitely a fear factor, oh yes. Besides just jumping off it’s also the feeling of flying, the feeling of falling, not many people are used to that and I’m actually falling probably about 10 feet because I have to jump up which is higher than the balcony. So, it’s those two things, plus what you do just before you jump. The music is frantic and you have to stay calm and listen to the music to know when to scream so the guys down there know they have to catch me. It’s all timed and you have to stay relaxed and then you just have to go! It’s a leap of faith.

I: And really count on them to be there to catch you!

F: Oh, definitely. They’re great guys and I know they’ll be there.

I: Do you like doing it now?

F: It’s getting to be a lot more fun. At first it was scary and exhilarating at the same time. I mean, really at the same time.

I: So you are not really just a walk-on, walk-off type of a super. Have you ever done that kind of spear carrying before?

F:  Oh, sure. My first opera here was Aida and that’s spear carrying. [laughs]

Mr. Colardo as the recently deceased Buoso Donati in this year’s production of Gianni Schicci. (Photo: Ken Howard)

I: On the highest order! And several times! You go around and around in the Triumphal scene. Tell us about some of the other scenes you‘ve done. Donati, lying dead in the bed?

F: You have to be dead for 40 minutes! You pray you don’t need to cough or sneeze or itch because that would be deadly. Most people think that you can just fall asleep, which you can’t. If you fall asleep you could involuntarily move. So, you have to stay with it. But it’s great because they’re all singing around you and it’s wonderful to hear all the voices going crazy all around you. I mean, it’s fun, but you have to be focused and do what you have to do.

I: But there must be some sort of technique that you have to employ to get yourself so relaxed that you really aren’t going to be moving in any way.

F: I tell people this: As far as doing that part, it’s like when you’re on the beach and you’re starting to doze but you’re still awake so you are in control, it’s that feeling. Then they pick me up and take me into the tub and I’m there for another 10-15 minutes.

I: But we don’t see you in the tub! You get to go get a cup of coffee or something.

F: You see my leg hanging out!

As the photographer in Lucia di Lammermoor. (Photo: Ken Howard)

I: Oh, okay! [laughs] So you were also the photographer in the sextet of Lucia. That was a sort of a controversial staging, the Mary Zimmerman staging. Did anyone come up to you and have anything to say to you about that?

F: Well, no they didn’t.

I: I loved it; I thought it was great!

F: I think they know that I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do. I think it’s interesting that something is actually happening during the sextet. Everybody wants them to stand there and sing but there’s something going on! That makes sense, I think.

I: In Don Pasquale, you were the servant who came walking in and Pasquale is sort of fussing and fuming. You come in with a powdered, white wig and Pasquale is all dressed to meet Sophronia. It’s not until he grabs the wig off of your head and puts it on his own head that we realize that that was not your hair at all!

F: That’s his wig, yes!

I: That gets a real laugh every single time. Do you have fun doing this sort of thing?

F:  Yes, yes I do! That’s fun. There’s really no stress for that. That’s really just having fun and being right there. I am hearing the singers! Anna [Netrebko], I hear her all the time. I’m 2 feet away from her. It’s great!

I:  So tell me about this: have you just loved working in opera? You’re a stage man. You love being in opera?

F: Oh, yes. I’ve become an opera fan, of course, and I appreciate all that’s around me when I’m in these productions. I know they’re world-class voices and I’ve learned all of the operas. Typical American, before I came here never saw an opera, never wanted to. Aida blew me away! Big sets, lots of animals, lots of people, really nice music. You know, that sold me.

Interesting about Traviata that I found out with stage rehearsals this week is that, normally, at the end of Act 1, when Violetta’s singing her famous aria, she’s the only one on stage. This time, I actually get to be on stage with her but you don’t know I’m there. I’m behind the clock.

Photo: Mary Sohl

I: Okay, now let’s explain what you’re going to be doing with Traviata. This is the Willy Decker production.

F: Yes. The clock moves. There’s a great big clock and it moves, it has a life, and it’s to represent how much time she has left. At parts it starts racing and it freaks her out, but I have to move the clock for the entire first act and the second half of Act Two. So I’m on that stage when she’s singing her solos and all that and, like I said, at the end of Act One, when no one’s on stage except her, I’m feet away from her and just the sound is glorious and I’m loving it.

I: I find it hard to believe that there’s a person controlling that clock in this age of such high technology that there isn’t some sort of mechanism being controlled by somebody off stage. Why are you doing it?

F: Well it’s stage time, the clock is running twice as fast as real time. And then it speeds up during the stretta section, which she then runs over to stop because she wants to stop time from racing ahead because she knows there’s only so much. And then also in the second act, the clock becomes a gambling table, like a roulette wheel. So you have to be aware and know the cues when someone’s going to spin the hand, and I have to know when to stop it at certain points. You have to finesse it. And also they want the winners to be different each time so the chorus can be excited and more into it. There are times when it has to point to Alfredo so that’s a given because you know he wins. So that’s how it works and I think that’s why they want a person to do it.

I: We’re talking with Frank Colardo who is a supernumerary here at the Metropolitan Opera. You were also referred to as “Staff Performer”, so that means you’re on staff; you’re not hired from show to show?

F: No, I’m full time. This is my way of making a living.

I: Of the Willy Decker production of Traviata, this is a production that got its start at the Salzburg Festival and people had loved it. I think it was 2005 when it first showed up. What’s it like working and rehearsing this production with Mr. Decker?

F: Well he doesn’t deal with me at all, actually I’ve learned everything from Meisje Hummel, his assistant who was here before he arrived, and she’s terrific. So I learned what’s required of me and then they pretty much let me go and do what I have to do. Willy’s busy with everybody else.

I: How many shows are you in at one time?

F: I can be here every night, week after week after week. As of right now though, none of us are in [The Magic] Flute. We used to do the old Flute which was a lot of fun being the animals, but now in the new Flute the dancers are doing it, so it’s a night off.

I: What animals were you in Flute?

F: I was the lion-bear kind of thing which he actually pets, and then, [Tamino] did something to me, but I was in a suit and I can’t remember what it was now. He hit me and something else ….

I: [laughing] You can’t tell from underneath that suit!

F: He hit me with the flute I think!

I: How’d you get started doing this? How’d you get started with Aida, I mean, were you an actor before that?

F: Yes, I was a song and dance man. I did concert dance and then I moved to Broadway musicals. I was bartending, which is a fill-in survival job between gigs, and one of the bartenders I worked with was a tumbler in Aida. When he found out that I had stage experience he said “Would you like to come to the opera one night?”, because a friend of his was going to be out. And I thought, “oh, that would be a kick”, and I thought I was really going to be here one night. And now, years and years later, here I am.

I: You’re taking flying leaps and audiences can see from the world over Frank Colardo take one of those leaps in La Fanciulla del West. On January 8th (2010) we’re going to be broadcasting the performance in movie theaters as part of our live in HD series. That won’t be your first time will it, in the HD?

F: No.

I: Fantastic. It’s been great talking to you.

F: You too! Thank you.

Frank’s nose is running in The Nose. (Photo: Ken Howard)

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Note from the Editor: Check out the wildly entertaining Met Opera Supers Instagram account at @metoperasupers. You’ll get a lot more Frank action, including a new favorite, the #frankdance, which should not be missed.

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The Holiday Recipe Corner, In Which Lianne Reluctantly Shares Her Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe

Hi everybody. This is Lianne Coble-Dispensa, your humble Editor-in-Chief of the Met Artists Newsletter. Normally you’d just be seeing my name in a byline for an article or two, but in a moment tinged with necessity, mild narcissism, and a tinge of laziness, I decided to step in and take over the recipe corner this month. Why? Well, it’s the holiday season, and one of the things I love most about the holidays is the fact that making (and eating) cookies is not just encouraged, it is practically mandatory.

Lianne & her husband Scott drinking incredible beer in Switzerland.

Lianne being fancy in a publicity shot that she never uses anymore because she’s got a full-time job singing at the Met. Photo Cred: Joshua South Photography.

Lianne & Scott showing off their glamorous Romeo & Juliette costumes.

Lianne marveling at the size of her steak.

Name: Lianne Coble-Dispensa.

Hometown: Liverpool, NY.

Years at the Met: Joined the Extra chorus in 2010, and the full-time chorus in 2015.

My favorite opera is: Tosca. But Otello and Rosenkavalier are right up there, musically speaking.

One of my most memorable experiences at the Met so far is: I’m going to give two examples, since I can (and I’m sure there are more I’m forgetting). Most recently, the Party in Hell (a.k.a. Walpurgisnacht) scene in Mefistofele. It was basically the only time I could do karate and aggressively play air guitar—half naked—during an opera and instead of getting fired, I got a paycheck. The second is listening to Sondra Radvanovsky absolutely slay the Three Queens during my first full-time season. I don’t cry easily, but she got me every time.

Other than opera, my favorite type of music is: Alt-pop and trashy techno for gym purposes, Gabriel Kahane, folky Americana, anything Baroque, and polyphonic choral music. My sister-in-law said she’s listening to Mongolian pop now, so who knows, I may try that out, too.

When I’m not at the Met, you can find me: Running, Crossfitting, doing just about anything at the gym, puttering around with the Met Artists Newsletter, and cooking. Basically, just constantly cooking.

The most outrageous thing I've ever cooked (or eaten) was: Scott & I usually leave the tricky stuff for the experts, so besides roasting a goose for Christmas or making homemade pasta, our outrageous experiences are reserved for restaurants. And on that note, we ate some amazingly innovative (and a bit challenging) things at Noma in Copenhagen and Faviken in northern Sweden. Think reindeer, colastrum, and some interesting uses of seafood.

The three things in my kitchen I can’t live without are: My Instant Pot, Breville countertop convection oven, and a cast iron pan.

Currently, my three go-to ingredients are: Kale, Kerrygold butter, and alder smoked sea salt.

If I had to choose, my “last meal” would be: I feel like this answer could change at any given moment, but right now, it’s a combination of the following: the honey butter biscuits from Moss Cafe; a truly excellent burger, perhaps from The Burger Stand in Lawrence, KS: the bread and butter course from Eleven Madison Park; and to round it out, fois gras with a nice glass of Sauternes. Hey, it’s a last meal.

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As the title of the article insinuates, I’m reluctant to share this recipe with you all, mainly because I give these cookies as gifts every year, and once everyone sees how easy they are, I may become redundant. That being said, I found this recipe on the web, so it’s not like they’re an original family creation shrouded in secrecy. In fact, I found them here, on the Kitchen Trial and Error blog (which looks like it hasn’t been updated in a while, but still has the glorious cookie recipe posted from 2010, so I can give the blogger credit).

These are infinitely customizable, but if you like cranberries, pistachios, and white chocolate, you can’t go wrong with these. Start hitting the gym now; you’ll want to make room for the extra calories.

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Cranberry, Pistachio & White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
adapted from ina garten
30 minutes, plus chilling, makes 3 1/2 - 4 dozen.

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 cup roughly chopped pistachios
1 cup white chocolate chips

Picture taken from Kitchen Trial & Error blog. I take no ownership of this image.

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. mix in the vanilla extract.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour and salt.

3. Add the flour & salt to the butter mixture. mix on low speed until it just starts to come together. Add the cranberries, pistachios, and white chocolate a half a cup at a time until it's incorporated. Mix until the dough forms a ball. (Editor’s note: You don’t have to use a hand mixer, or even a stand mixer. It might help, though.)

4. Roll into a log about 2 inches in diameter (roll it wider or skinnier depending on how big you want your cookies). Wrap the log in some wax paper. (Editor’s note: plastic wrap is fine, too.)

5. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

7. Slice the log into 1/4 inch slices. Place the slices on the sheet pan. They don't spread much, so they can be pretty close together.

8. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown.

9. Remove from the pan and cool to room temperature.

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Yannick Nezet-Séguin's Exhilarating Opening Night

Our new music director soaking in the applause. Check out the smiles on those faces. Can you tell how much we like him already? (Photo: Jonathan Tichler)

A special “Vintage Yannick” champagne to celebrate Yannick’s first show as music director of the Met!

It began with him subverting opera norms, asking the Chorus to join him and the principals in a walk down to the footlights. It was during the bows of Parsifal earlier this year, and Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin had recently been named Music Director-Designate. News had just broken that he had successfully shifted his schedule around to join the Metropolitan Opera two years early as Music Director. His gesture to the Chorus during the Parsifal curtain call was a conscious effort to demonstrate inclusion, signaling to the Company that collaboration would be the order of the day.

While we have enjoyed working with Maestro Nézet-Séguin since his debut conducting Carmen in 2009, this year is full of even more excitement and promise. Maestro has stepped into the role of Music Director with gusto, and the palpable energy felt in the opera house these days is an auspicious beginning to a long, productive musical and artistic collaboration.

Maestro leads three opera productions this season: our new, vibrant production of La Traviata directed by Michael Mayer, followed by revivals of two 20th-Century French masterworks: Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande & Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. We already feel his guiding hand shaping Verdi’s phrases with elegance and care in La Traviata. He asks us for extra focus on the text, energizing the vocal lines with character, and insists on Verdi’s dynamics and phrasing, working the lines with the Orchestra, Chorus & principals until they sparkle. Like any good leader, he has a warm, effusive charm, and peppers his direction with funny asides. You want to follow his lead — it is always in service of the composer.

On opening night he bucked another operatic convention, asking the Orchestra to join us all on stage for a celebratory bow to a new era. It’s never been done at the Met, and it continues to demonstrate Maestro’s philosophy that this Company can only soar to new heights together, with each department in the building contributing equal parts talent and hard work. We wholeheartedly agree with this, and look forward to the collaboration!

The whole Traviata crew. Cast, chorus, dancers, and for the first time, our esteemed orchestra members.

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Daniel Clark Smith, born in Barrington, IL, has degrees in Music Ed. and Choral Conducting from The University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music, and has loved singing in ensembles all his life. In concert, he particularly enjoys performing the Evangelist roles in J.S. Bach’s Passions. At the Met, favorite roles include a Lackey in Der Rosenkavalier, a soldier in Wozzeck and Parpignol in La Bohème, a role he has performed 100 times with the company. Daniel is a member of the Chorus Committee and serves as the Mens’ Chorus Safety Delegate. Daniel has been with his husband, fellow musician Michael S. Caldwell, for 26 years. Follow him on Twitter: @dclarksmith and Instagram: @danielclarksmith.

Libiamo Returns: Operatic Wine Pairings

A party scene from ENO's production of Marnie. Photo credit: Richard Hubert Smith.

by Lianne Coble-Dispensa, with contributions by Scott Dispensa

La Traviata returns to the Met stage after two years off (with a "shiny new production" facelift!), and with it, another opportunity for revelry, mirth, and toasts to everyone's good health with a nice glass of champagne. But what about the other shows of the season? What beverages would you pair with them? In the first of four volumes, resident ersatz sommeliers Scott Dispensa & Lianne Coble-Dispensa share their pairing choices for the opening shows of the Met's 2018-2019 season.

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Samson et Dalila (Opens the season on 9/24!): This lush, lavish, and lusty production deserves a wine that stands up to its character! If we’re looking to pair with location, Samson is an Israelite, and Dalila is a Philistine, which means her people settled in and around what is now Israel, Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. Scott picked two different wineries for you to check out: Domaine du Castel, an Israeli winery making Bordeaux-inspired wines, and from Lebanon, Château Musar, which has been continually producing critically-acclaimed wines despite decades of strife in the region. Regardless of which one you choose, you'll have an experience that combines the power of Samson with the luxuriousness of Dalila. 

La bohème (Opens 9/25): This opera is DYING for both food and wine pairings. Just listen to the 2nd act market scene! The townspeople cry out for panna montata, la crostada, Prugne di Tours, latte di cocco, and gentleman holler for birra (beer) and ratafia, a sweet liqueur popular in Italy and the Champagne region of France. Scott thinks this would be a great pairing for the enjoyable sweetness of La Boheme. Lianne notes that if you’re not into sweet booze, you could go the beer route and pick up an Italian brew. Lianne & Scott prefer the brand Birra di Meni, but you could keep things light and airy and settle on a tall, fizzy glass of Peroni!

Aida (Opens 9/26): You might think that trying to find an appropriate adult beverage to pair with an ancient Egyptian opera would be difficult, but surprisingly, those Egyptians knew how to party! Alcoholic beverages were part of daily life, particularly beer, which was served to children and adults alike, as it had a lower alcohol content and was better for you than the local water sources. Ancient Egyptian beer was commonly made from Barley, so I’d recommend a barleywine-style ale like Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot. Schafly and Smuttynose also make a highly-rated barleywine-style ale. Enjoy!

La Fanciulla del West (Opens 10/4): I’m going to give you a few options here. Fanciulla is set in California during the Gold Rush, and you know those prospectors were drinking their body weight in whiskey at the time. Conveniently, we have the Gold Rush cocktail, which is a combination of bourbon, lemon, and honey syrup (a riff on the prohibition-era “Bee’s Knees” cocktail, which uses gin instead of bourbon). But if you want something classier to pair with an opera about a powerful female figure, may I recommend wines (of any kind, they’re all fantastic) from the female-owned Day Wines and Kelley Fox Vineyards.

Marnie (Opens 10/19): Nico Muhly has made my job easy for me in this opera: the “happy hour” after-work scene at a bar opens with the chorus shouting out (or rather, singing out) their drink orders. So, we have some delectably dated choices: how about a Cinzano and lemon? Maybe a lager and lime? Or perhaps you’d like a Babycham (which is the brand name for a pear cider that was popular in the 60s)? All of them are low-alcohol choices, which I recommend, as you’ll need your wits about you during this psychological thriller of a show.

Tosca (Opens 10/25): Tosca’s setting in Rome in the 1800s inspired Scott to search for wines that may have been around during that time. He settled on Frascati, an Italian white wine, which has been cultivated in the countryside surrounding Rome for close to 2000 years. Frascati can come in many styles: dry, sweet, still, or spumante. Whatever mood you might be in, it is recommended to buy the youngest Frascati you can find, as these wines are not meant to age. Seeing as how the youthful couple, Tosca and Cavaradossi, meet untimely ends in the opera, this aspect of Frascati makes the pairing even more fitting!

Carmen (opens 10/30): My first instinct was to wrack my brain in search of a bold, sultry Spanish red wine to pair with Carmen. After all, Carmen herself is indeed bold, sultry, and Spanish. But if you’re interested in location, the opera is set in (and around) Seville, making Jerez the closest wine region. The Jerez region is best known for its sherries, so I’d recommend starting the night out with either a dry Fino sherry, or a light, salty Manzanilla sherry. If you want to kick things up a notch, float a wee bit of that Fino sherry in a glass of dry champagne. It’s a fantastic aperitif.

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Lianne Coble-Dispensa joined the Metropolitan Opera as a member of the extra chorus in 2010, and went full time in 2015. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Met Artists Newsletter, and is a member of the Met Chorus Artists executive board. When she's not singing opera or furiously copy editing this month's newsletter, she enjoys spending the lion's share of her free time cooking various delights in the kitchen, reading non-fiction, Crossfitting, and running (you may see her in this fall's Staten Island Half Marathon). She is married to fellow chorister (and ultramarathoner) Scott Dispensa, and they live in Teaneck, NJ with two ostentatiously named cats (Maximilien de Robespierre and Charles Hubert Hastings Parry).

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A Day In The Life: Anne Dyas, Staff Performer and Superheroine

There is a group of performers in the Metropolitan Opera that are often overlooked and underappreciated, and those people are the staff performers (also known as supernumeraries). Staff performers are the non-speaking characters in an opera, and their presence and participation is fundamental to the success of any production on the Met stage. (Think of the clowns in Pagliacci, the myriad soldiers in the Aida triumphal scene, the warriors and female druids in Norma, and the men hammering anvils in Il Trovatore, to name only a few of the countless roles supernumeraries play.)  Anne Dyas, the ONLY female full-time member of the staff performers roster (and a 10-year veteran!) has seen her fair share of stage time. Here, she'll give you a taste of how crazy a day in the life of a staff performer can get!

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Photo: Leslie Hassler

I had only been back in NYC from The Midsummer in Oxford Shakespeare Program for a few months when I heard about auditions to be a full-time actor at the Met. This job came along at just the right time for me. I was young enough to make that kind of commitment, but old enough to know what such a commitment entailed. I have since been in over 81 productions and over 1,400 performances at the Met. When I was graduating with my BFA in Acting from Texas State University, I had never given a career in opera a single thought. After attending The Circle in The Square conservatory, and being trained by B.H. Barry in stage combat for two years, a role in Franco Zeffirelli’s Carmen opened up, and I got to “fight” my way into the company.

The girl with the Q-tip earring.

I usually get up around 7:30am, and I need about 15 minutes of pretending to be awake to function. I always get in the shower before my husband (Met Chorus tenor Jeremy Little), while he makes coffee for me (he’s so good to me). We typically need to be at the Met at the same time every morning (leave at 9:15, arrive by 10:00am), so we have a whole routine worked out combining a little relaxation with planning out a part of the day where we get to connect.

A brief moment of calm before the storm.

Morning dress rehearsals begin at 10:00am, while the show from the night before often ends around 11:30pm, so there's usually only a 10-11 hour break between the time I leave the stage to the time I return to the exact same place! I have about 30 minutes to pin-curl my hair, put on my wig, do a full face of makeup, and get into costume (with the help one of our fabulous dressers: corsets don’t lace themselves!). I’ve got it down to a science now, so I usually shovel in some breakfast and check emails simultaneously (a must since our schedules change quite frequently).

Sometimes any chair will do for a quick sit!

On any given day at the Met, there are rehearsals for different shows going on in different rooms throughout the building, and I can be called to all of them at the same time. I often fantasize that the directors fight behind closed doors to see who gets to have me that day! Rehearsals on the Main Stage take priority, but this means that as soon as I’m released from the Main Stage, I get out of costume and am running to the next thing.

Semiramide glam.

A sample day in February saw me rehearsing Semiramide from 10:00am-2:30pm, (running downstairs for a concurrent Elektra rehearsal from 11:00am-1:30pm), and La Bohème from 2:30pm-5:30pm, followed by the evening performance of L’Elisir d’Amore from 7:00pm-10:15pm. A rehearsal in the 5th Floor Studio is 9 stories away from a rehearsal in one of the three C-Level studios. According to my fitness tracker app, on average I walk 3.5 miles a day just in the building!

Anne makes the poster outside of the Met fairly frequently. :-)

Lunch is usually something that I grab from the Met Cafeteria. Broccoli cheddar soup day is my favorite! I also drink a ton of water with lemons. There are water coolers in essentially every room in the building, so it’s easy to stay hydrated.

Boheme bonnet action.

I think it takes a lot of muscle memory to do this job. It also takes a lot of brainpower to switch gears between Rossini, Strauss, Puccini, and Donizetti in one day. I’m frequently counting bars at the beginning of a rehearsal process, and within a few days I intuitively know when to move.

Or, with a show like La Bohème, which I’ve been in for ten years, I can carry on a whole conversation with Colline and move him out of the path of a horse and carriage without blinking, all while drinking “vino da tavola” and wearing 4-inch heels.

Rehearsals last until 5:30pm, and after 7.5 hours of rehearsals I run down to Columbus Circle and take a Pure Barre class. I’ve found that with this job, carving out time for myself is essential. Discovering Pure Barre (especially since it’s close to Lincoln Center) has been a game changer for me. It keeps me in shape and limber for all the different roles and physical characters I play. Plus, my mind gets a dose of modern music for 50 minutes! After class, Jeremy and I grab a quick bite and a smooch before our dress call for the evening performance. I’m so glad we work together, or we’d probably never see each other!

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The many looks of L'Elisir d'Amore.

At 7:00pm, I’m back in the 3rd Floor dressing room to begin the process of getting ready all over again: adding more makeup, curling my hair for an up-do, or getting into another wig. Plus, more corsets! Three in L’Elisir, to be exact. At 7:23pm, the call to stage comes, and moments later the show is underway. Two intermissions, an offstage quick-change, a coffee/snack, and three costumes later, the curtains close on another exciting performance!

I change back into my street clothes (as we call them) and meet Jeremy to catch the uptown 1 train, so we can go home, watch an episode of Seinfeld, and hit the hay before getting up and doing it all over again the next day!

Be sure to follow ALL the activities of the Met Opera Supers on Instagram @metoperasupers

Outreach Corner: ArtSmart, Run By Met Artists!

Anyone who thinks that opera singers are self-interested divas should take a peek at ArtSmart, an educational outreach organization started by Met favorite Michael Fabiano, and maintained with joy and commitment by Met Opera Extra Choristers Megan Pachecano & Tom Mulder. The Met Artists Newsletter sat down with Megan & Tom to find out more about the amazing work they're doing with some very talented young adults who go to school right here in the New York metro area.

Some excited students of ArtSmart's East Side High School pilot program, after a performance.

by Megan Pachecano, Tom Mulder, with contributions by Lianne Coble-Dispensa

How did you get involved with ArtSmart? 

Tom: I got an email in the spring of 2016 from Michael Fabiano saying he was interested in speaking about a teaching opportunity for the coming school year. I chatted with him and Co-Founder John Viscardi about their new organization ArtSmart, and their vision for changing the landscape of arts education in underserved communities, and I was immediately hooked. I started teaching at our Pilot Program at East Side High School in Newark that fall, and picked up some of the administrative duties for the organization because I felt so passionately about the cause.

Megan: I've been working with ArtSmart for a little over a year. Tom recommended me for the Marketing & Communications position because he knew that I had past experience at a digital advertising agency. I think it's a testament to the versatility of artists (and a prime example of the education and opportunities we're trying to give our students) that Tom and I have come full circle from singing together in regional opera productions and a young artist program, to working together to help build a new nonprofit arts organization, and now back again to being artistic colleagues at the Met!

What attracted you to the organization, and why did you want to work there?

Megan: ArtSmart is doing something completely different than a lot of other organizations out there, and on a larger scale too. We are giving weekly private lessons (which are usually a cost-prohibitive educational extracurricular) to talented students who deserve access to these teachers just as much as the next kid. As someone who was fortunate to have piano and voice lessons as a child, I know firsthand what a significant impact that had on my life. What about the many talented, deserving kids out there whose families just can't afford it? I take immense pride in working for an organization that is striving to close that privilege gap.

Tom: I had been teaching at a wonderful private school in New Jersey and looked forward to engaging a different kind of student and growing as a teacher and a person. But the thing that I found most attractive about ArtSmart was that they wanted to use data to create a powerful argument for stopping the cuts in arts education. We track absences, tardies, disciplinary actions, and GPAs, and monitor whether those areas improve when students are involved in the ArtSmart program. So far the results have been staggering even within in our small sample.

What inspires you about the organization?

Megan: The people who work for ArtSmart all care so much. The mentors can't stop talking about their amazing students. When I talk to John on the phone, I hear the excitement in his voice about the work we're doing and the dreams he has for the organization. I see Michael posting on Instagram from a dressing room across the world and then five minutes later I get an email in my inbox about something he remembered we need to do for the organization. This is a team who is ready to make a difference, and they inspire me.

Tom Mulder, working his magic at ArtSmart.

What is ArtSmart's mission, and how does it differ from other non-profit arts organizations? What need does it fill in the community that was not being filled? 

Megan: We are an organization that empowers students in underserved communities to develop their skills as musicians and artists through high-level technical training and cultural immersion. But the key difference in our organization is the importance we place on mentorship. In meeting with their voice teachers each week, students benefit socially, developmentally, and academically from consistent one-on-one guidance. There is also an incredible amount of research available about the effect of music on child development. The inaugural class of the 2016-17 pilot year showed a significant decrease in disciplinary action and absenteeism compared to their previous school years, and the average GPA of our ArtSmart students jumped 0.9 points over the course of the year. As a group, they also reported a marked increase in desire to pursue a college education. There's just no denying results like these, and it propels us forward.

Tom: We call our teachers mentors because our primary goal for our students is to prepare them for life after high school, no matter what career path they choose. We do not expect all of our students to apply to Juilliard (though some of them will), but we do expect them to learn responsibility, how to communicate, and the skills to learn and research what they are passionate about. Our hope is that whether our kids become doctors or electricians or musicians, that they will be strong learners and communicators.

From left to right: Michael Fabiano, Megan Pachecano, and Tom Mulder. All of them work for ArtSmart, and all of them performed at the Metropolitan Opera 50th Anniversary Gala (where this picture was taken!).

The two of you, and co-founders of ArtSmart Michael Fabiano and John Viscardi, are professional singers.  Does working as a performer help you with ArtSmart?

Megan: Absolutely! Actually everyone in the organization is a performer. Michael, John, and percussionist Brian Levor co-founded the organization with the help of our general counsel, Liz Letak, who is a pianist. All of the mentors they then hired are professional singers in their own right who perform all around the world in many capacities. We take so much of what we are experiencing on stage and in our own artistic endeavors and give it back to our students. Creating art with people across the country gives me a "big picture" outlook and helps me realize what's actually important to focus on in my own personal teaching.

What is the future of the organization? What do you hope to accomplish in the next few years?

Megan: For the 2018-19 school year, ArtSmart is on track to more than triple our number of programs and serve ten schools. We'll also launch our group program, "Amplify - Youth Voices for Positive Change," as well as a multi-week master class series with Michael at the Ruth Asawa School for the Arts in San Francisco.

Tom: We hope to expand to over 100 schools within five years and create a strong statistical argument based on what many of us know anecdotally: when students are engaged in an area about which they are passionate, they are not only more excited to come to school, but perform better when they are there.

Is there anything else you'd like us to know about ArtSmart?

Megan: We are a very young, but growing organization. We can only offer these lessons and continue expanding our program to more schools with the help of fellow music lovers and supporters of arts education. Some choose to give a monthly donation through our Patreon page, some give a one-time donation through our website, and some give through our social media channels like facebook. Every little bit helps to give these students quality music education that they would not otherwise have access to. And it is a joy to see just how much they are thriving because of it!

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Megan Pachecano and Tom Mulder are Extra Choristers at the Metropolitan Opera. Both are graduates of the Masters program at the Manhattan School of Music, and they work together for the nonprofit organization ArtSmart, which provides free weekly voice lessons to students in Newark, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and soon, New York City. Tom is the VP of Operations as well as one of the Newark voice teachers, and Megan handles Marketing and Communications for the organization.

Why Dancer Bradley Shelver Wrote A Book

by Bradley Shelver

I have always believed the mark of a successful artist is versatility. At least, this is how I have always approached dance. I believe dance picked me, at the tender age of 4 years old, born in South Africa during the apartheid era. The possibilities for us internationally were all but none, and thanks to an observant and incredibly supportive father, my flare for movement was noticed and it was arranged for me to audition for the newly established Performing Arts Workshop, founded by a deeply passionate American by the name of Jeff Corey. The workshop was a gateway to everything artistic, from Ballet, Jazz, Tap and Contemporary dance, to singing, theater arts, stage crafts and lighting: a playground for talent and an overly energetic 4 year old.

I loved every minute and soon went on to audition for the National School of the Arts, the preeminent Performing Arts High School based in Johannesburg. This journey, and exposure, to all manner of glorious and dedicated youngsters from every race, creed and background instilled in me the importance and gift of the arts to the human condition.

My final year in high school offered me the possibility to take a Modern Dance class from (and audition for) the inspiring dancers of the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. I thought I already had my trajectory since, the previous year, I was offered a position with the Netherlands Dance Theater 2, and I asked them to hold my spot until I graduated. However, after seeing the Ailey Company perform, I knew New York City was where I wanted to be.

I arrived in New York City in January of 1998, two weeks after graduating high school, scared, excited and slightly overwhelmed by all that I experienced.

After spending 5 months studying under full scholarship, I was asked to join Ailey 2, a young and vivacious company that toured extensively and further opened my eyes to a world with dance in it; this world was a much better place.

During my time with the Ailey organization (of which I am now a full time faculty member and choreographer) I was submerged in a technique called Horton, a precise and codified way to train dancers in the shortest amount of time. With exercises for every part of the body, from the face to the feet, I trained under the guidance of master teachers Milton Myers and Ana-Marie Forsythe. Under their mentorship, I started to investigate and develop my own teaching style and principles using this technique.

After leaving the Ailey organization as a dancer, I went on to perform with companies like Elisa Monte Dance, Ballet Hispanico, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Limon Dance Company, Phoenix Dance Theater in the U.K., and as a guest artist with Mark Morris Dance, Universal Ballet and Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane. I am now in my tenth season with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, being constantly fed by all styles and genres, and I continue to develop my own thoughts and ideas for how to teach and train with the Horton Technique. As a choreographer, however, my style and vocabulary is not derived from Horton, but instead my ideas feed and evolve the technique.

I started to teach workshops and classes throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the U.S., and was approached by the University of Rome to write a book on the technique as part of a series on Modern Dance they were working on. I was living in the U.K. at the time and decided to delve more into putting my thoughts on paper, finding a way to make the physical elements verbal. This was not an easy task, and took me two years to write and photograph. After a severe economic crisis in Italy, the publishing of the series was delayed indefinitely, even though two of the books had already been translated into Italian. I managed to get out of my publishing contract with the international L’Epos publishers and decided to publish the book in English, under the title, “Performance Through The Dance Technique Of Lester Horton.”

As of January 2018, my book is available in almost every county worldwide, and has been requested by universities and conservatories to include it in their teaching curriculum.

Being one of only three books published on the topic of Horton, my book seeks to connect the prior two texts, and shine a light on how to carry the ideas forward in an ever-changing and versatile dance world.

This is the artist's way; this is why I love what I do, and love to teach. If it wasn’t for that modern dance class with the Alvin Ailey dancers back in Johannesburg all those years ago, I never would have come to live the dream that I do today. As Alvin Ailey once said, “Dance came from the people, and should always be given back to the people," so I wrote a book.

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If you are interested in purchasing Bradley's book, you can check it out here and here.

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An Extra Chorister's Guide to Getting Lost

You trained, applied, auditioned, and were hired to sing in the Met Opera Chorus, but are you ready for the biggest challenge of working at the Metropolitan Opera... finding your way around the building!?!?

Photo: Jonathan Tichler/Metropolitan Opera

by Abigail Mitchell

You just got your first extra chorus contract at the Met—congratulations! You’ve worked your butt off and gotten very lucky and now here you are. You might be a little nervous as well as excited. But what might surprise you is that the most stressful thing about singing in the extra chorus is not trying to make a good impression (you’re a pro!) or making friends with the regulars (they’re nice!). No, the most stressful thing—by far—about being an extra chorister is figuring out where to go.

An extra chorister must present herself in only a small few of the Met’s myriad locations: List Hall, the costume fitting room, the dressing room, the stage. There’s a place called “the hardwood” and another called “the rear wagon” and these may or may not actually be the same thing. Finding the cafeteria is helpful, but not obligatory, though locating at least one restroom is. At your audition for the chorus, volunteers from the full-time chorus were probably on hand to walk you from the waiting area to List Hall (and—crucially—back again afterwards). Similarly, on your first day, Daniel Hoy ¹ will probably meet you at the stage door and show you to the room where you’ll fill out your HR paperwork.

After that, you’re on your own. Considering the small number of places an extra chorister needs to go, you would think that wouldn’t be so bad, that it wouldn’t take that long to get one’s bearings and find those places. You would be wrong.

Just when you thought you knew where you were going... a dead end and a Magic Flute prop! (Photo: Jonathan Tichler/Metropolitan Opera)

I was disadvantaged from the start because I have something of a history of getting lost. When I first came to New York for auditions, I walked back and forth along 54th Street between 8th Avenue and Broadway, despairing that there was no sign marked “Nola” ² . A few years later, still in the pre-cell-phone universe, I went on a run in Rome, failed spectacularly at “keeping track of where I turn”, and ended up having to go to a police station to look up the address of my hosts. This dubious history of wayfinding did not set me up for success at navigating the Metropolitan Opera House. Clean lines and sweeping curves of the façade and foyer notwithstanding, the Met resembles nothing more than a rabbit warren or an ant hill, with dozens of workers scurrying to and fro in endless diverse tasks. Everyone except you seems to know exactly where they are going.

The best thing to do in the beginning is simply follow other choristers around. You can either try to be subtle about it or just admit that you don’t know where the heck you are and can you please just tag along with them? Eventually you’ll memorize a route from at least one place (say, the stage door) to another (say, List Hall). For a while you breathe easy, until one day when the loading dock is blocked off or the lobby is closed for an event and you find yourself cut off from the one path you know.

You will not be aided by signage, of which there is precious little, or by niceties such as elevators that go to all floors. Most recently I found myself in an elevator which did not go to the 2nd floor, though it seemed to go to all the others (I wouldn’t be surprised if the elevators, like the staircases in Hogwarts, go to different places on different days). Thankfully one of my fellow riders was kind enough to walk me around a narrow and winding hallway to a different elevator which did go to the 2nd floor.

Not to be fooled again, next time I checked the elevator before getting in to make sure that it went to my destination: C level. It did! So down I went, feeling confident. But when I stepped out I found myself in some sort of creepy, deserted basement. Large pieces of lighting equipment were piled around, and after I wandered a bit I discovered—safely at a distance, thankfully—that I must be by the lift, for the floor gave way in a sheer drop off. It was, I’m convinced, the place where the monster in Stranger Things lives.

I started to panic. It was so clearly the wrong place I was hesitant to wander around, but there was no one nearby to help me. I took out my phone—maybe I can send Daniel Hoy a desperate SOS? No reception. Increasing panic clouded my reasoning and for a moment I couldn’t even find the button to call the elevator back. I’ll be stuck here forever! I’ll die here! Someone will find my body in seven years when they’re looking for those old lights from that ’95 production of The Ghosts of Versailles!

That obviously did not happen. The elevator button was not missing, simply a few inches farther to the side than normal. And when it arrived there was another extra chorister within, who took one look at where I was and said, “Well, this can’t be right.” We made our way back upstairs and chanced upon a full-time chorister. Phew. Now we’d be ok. But I was somewhat gratified when even she—a decades-long veteran—got turned around and we ended up having to cut through the room where the orchestra was rehearsing.

I’d wager that any extra chorister you meet has a tale or two about getting lost in the Met’s depths. The nonsensical floor plan can even best the most seasoned company members from time to time. So allow yourself a lot of extra time to get to rehearsal, and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. And if you are that rare person who navigates easily, who can find your way around a labyrinth like the Met on your first visit, please identify yourself as such when we meet. I’d love to know your secrets, or, at the very least, follow you around.

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Abigail Mitchell is a graduate of Indiana University and the Royal College of Music, London, and a former apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera. One of the best phone calls she ever got was the offer to join the Extra Chorus for the 16-17 season. Favorite roles include Fiordiligi, Norina, Rosina before and after marrying Count Almaviva, and Marzelline. When she’s not singing she enjoys exploring the great outdoors with her husband, Oliver, and savoring the great indoors with her cat, Earl Grey.

1. Editor's Note: Dan Hoy is the Met Chorus Administrator, former extra chorister and all-around good guy. ↩

1. Editor's Note: To those that might not be familiar, Nola Studios is an extremely popular location to rent studio space for auditions, and just about every young opera singer in the past 20 years has spent time there at one point in their career! ↩

The (unofficial) Metropolitan Opera Guide to Long-Distance Relationships

What do you do if you are in New York but your spouse is spending the next ten weeks performing in Vienna? Singers around the Metropolitan Opera offer strategies, ideas and methods for dealing with the dreaded long-distance relationship.

by Edward Hanlon

It’s Valentine’s Day! That means chocolates in heart-shaped boxes, candlelit dinners over glasses of red wine and sexy lingerie... at least that’s what Hallmark would have you believe! Of course the reality is, as always, much more complicated; it’s a mixed blessing of a day. People without significant others can feel as if they have been left out of some pink-tinted national holiday. But I’ve always felt that it’s hardest on people in relationships that can’t be with their loved ones. Which brings us to the subject of this website: opera singers of course!

The opera business is one of constant change and movement. Singers move from company to company, staying for three to six weeks (long enough to rehearse and perform a show) and then traveling to the next contract. ¹ So where does that leave relationships? Well… mostly long distance! My wife, Tanya Roberts, is also a singer. We have had the privilege of working together at times but, more often than not, we are singing with different companies throughout the country and world. ² It certainly has not always been easy but, through trial and error in our seven years of marriage, we have developed ways of dealing with the separation. We have three unbreakable rules ³ :

1. Say goodnight every night.
2. Always know when we will see each other next.
3. Never go more than two months without seeing each other.

When you write them out they seem a little obvious I guess. But no matter how apparent they might be, I believe that those three tenants have greatly contributed to my continued marital bliss!

I wanted to see how other singers at the Met deal with the issue so I asked around the opera house for long-distance strategies, ideas and methods and got a fantastic response. Principal sopranos Janai Brugger, Angela Mannino and Katherine Whyte, bass-baritone Paul Corona, and choristers Maria D’Amato, Belinda Oswald, Richard Pearson and Gregory Warren have all spent time away from their loved ones in varying degrees throughout their careers and were generous with the knowledge they have gained. So, without further ado: The (unofficial) Metropolitan Opera Guide to Long Distance Relationships.

Stay in touch: Embrace the Technology

Bass Edward Hanlon (yours truly) and wife, soprano Tanya Roberts, in The Gondoliers at The Ohio Light Opera. Photo my Matt Dilyard

The world has changed since Elizabeth Bennet was forced to wait weeks for an letter from Mr. Darcy ⁴ ; we now have a constantly expanding toolkit of communication options! Angela Mannino says “thank God for the internet and cellphones! Phone calls, text messages, Facebook messenger, FaceTime, and now, even our apple watches make keeping in touch throughout the day easier.” Katherine Whyte feels the same way: “I think modern technology makes this job so much easier for sure. We have a phone plan that lets us text from anywhere in the world.” But it’s not just what technology you use, it’s how you use it. Angela is married to Paul Corona and he makes sure to include the whole family: “we are in a group text with me and Angela and her parents, so all day we send pics and funny texts.” But sometimes just “the simplest text message of ‘good morning’ or ‘love u’ can make you feel connected in different time zones many miles away.”

Time zones add a degree of difficulty to my Rule #1. When Tanya was singing in Austria her bed-time was my dinner break! ⁵ Maria D’Amato has also had to deal with time-zone troubles: “when it was difficult to talk or see each other in real time, I would send detailed emails outlining my day and asking about his and send little videos over Skype. I remember rushing to check my messages in the morning or sometimes even in the middle of the night!” None of this is to say that technology has made things a walk in the park. Gregory Warren feels it’s hard “not to talk about NEGATIVE things about work or colleagues. It can monopolize a conversation and then you're too tired to talk about one another.” And of course, disagreements still happen and arguments are, to some extent, unavoidable. But Katherine stresses “We have learned that it’s so important to deal with issues, if we have them, over the phone. We don't hang up until we have figured it out... this is pretty essential”

Nothing Beats Seeing Each Other

Janai Brugger as Pamina at the Royal Opera House: Die Zauberflote (2015, Photo Credit: Mark Douet)

All this communication is great, but there is no substitute for the real thing! For Gregory “surprise visits [if possible] are my favorite”. Visits (whether they be surprises or not) are extremely important. Katherine finds it “pretty romantic to meet up in different parts of the world.” For Maria these visits make the absences easier; she enjoys “planning all the fun things you're going to do together when your partner comes to visit… It's almost like a honeymoon period because you value the little time you have together even more.” My third unbreakable rule is to never go more than two months without seeing each other. Other singers are less patient! Belinda Oswald and her husband Mark (a singer and teacher) had a 2 1/2 week rule and Janai tries for a rendezvous every two weeks.

There are, of course, two sides in being apart. Maria feels that “the hardest part is being the one left behind, (made even harder by an active imagination!). [Especially early in a relationship] the ‘little voices’ can take over when you're left alone… ‘is he going to meet someone else?’, ‘why didn't he call me yet today?’, ‘why is he having fun without me?!?’ etc... It took time to adjust to not seeing each other every day.” Both partners need to understand that this is difficult, and if that means flying into Middle-of-Nowhere, USA for a 1 ½ day visit… well… looks like you’re booking a flight to Middle-of-Nowhere, USA!

Variety is the Spice of Life

There are an infinite number of ways to show your partner you are thinking of them! Gregory suggests “putting iCal reminders for yourself to try and do something for them once a week just to keep reminding them that you are thinking of them.” Janai has a 4 year old child: “I try to leave a little note and piece of candy or small toy for each day that I'm gone for my son.” It both makes him happy and reminds him that his mother is thinking of him!

Whether you are together or apart, find excuses to have fun! Katherine and her husband “take the opportunity to celebrate just about anything, anniversary, ‘monthiversary’, two Christmases, two New Years, [her husband is Serbian so has a different calendar] engagement.... yes the list is pretty exhaustive.” Tanya and I are the same way; we sprinkle five different relationship “anniversaries” throughout the year!

You can be creative about how you spend your long-distance time together (whether it be online or on the phone). On one of our most memorable anniversaries Tanya and I turned on Facetime, set up our computers in the kitchen and proceeded to cook identical dinners. We then got dressed up, sat down to eat with the same bottles of wine and enjoyed a truly romantic meal together (despite the fact that I was in Virginia and she was in Chicago)!

No Matter What, Find the Positive!

Soprano Maria D'Amato and husband, baritone Dimitrie Lazich.

No matter what strategies you employ and how thoughtful you are, long-distance is never going to be easy. So it’s important to focus on the positives. Almost everyone I talked to stressed what a wonderful thing traveling actually is! Janai loves visiting a “new and amazing city/country that I've never been to before! I get time to focus on myself and the role that I'm preparing.” For Katherine, the relationship has changed her but she still loves the travel: “It's funny. I used to get so excited about going away on gigs before I met Stefan [her husband]. The first time I went away on a gig after I got married I would cry just thinking about going away a whole month before I left. Going away is still fun as it lets me see the world and I love singing but it aches so much more than it used to.”

It is vital to remember that when your partner is away, they are fulfilling their dreams. This keeps things in perspective for Richard Pearson: “My wife is doing what makes her happy. She deserves to be heard and the world deserves to hear her. Knowing that makes feel very proud and helps the time pass more quickly.” Angela could not agree more: “there is a great deal of admiration and respect that accompanies the anticipation of your wife/husband leaving for a gig. You are proud and excited that his or her career is thriving. This is what we've trained to do and what we are constantly working towards.” I find the joy, pride and happiness I feel for Tanya’s accomplishments equal to that which I feel for my own. They augment and guide the relationship to a better and healthier place.

Above all, it seems best to use the separation to strengthen the relationship. Maria felt it made her and her husband “appreciate each other more”; for Rick “knowing that the heart will grow fonder by the absence is best way to deal with the distance”. Paul and Angela’s relationship has been strengthened by their absences: “Spending time apart makes you really appreciate the time you spend together. You learn a lot about yourself - how to deal with ups and downs of everyday life, anxiety, etc. - it makes me a stronger, wiser person which I think will make me a better partner.” Plus “we never fight and when we are together we have the best time. No time for fighting when you are gone 6 months of the year!” Katherine agrees “We have built a lot of trust”.

So no… following the (unofficial) Metropolitan Opera Guide to Long Distance Relationships is not going to solve all of a couple's problems ⁶ . Being apart is lame… and probably that’s a good thing. There is no opportunity to get complacent; the constant challenge of long-distance forces couples into better communication, deeper understanding and stronger commitment. And you know what? That sounds like the ingredients to a very healthy and long-lasting relationship!

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Edward Hanlon, graduate of McGill University and University of Michigan, is a happy Long Island boy making good with the Metropolitan Opera. Favorite roles include Figaro, Sparafucile, Dick Deadeye, Sarastro and Nick Bottom with companies such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Lincoln Center Theatre, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival. He dreams of singing another Figaro with his beautiful wife, soprano Tanya Roberts. His first novel is is due to be released this summer ... at the end of the 2017-18 season ... umm... someday? Check out his website and follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

1. This is generally different in Europe but that is a story for another article. ↩

1. Her currently singing with Edmonton Opera in the frozen tundra of Canada is one of my main motivators for writing this article! ↩

1. Not following these is roughly similar to using one of the three unforgivable curses at Hogwarts. ↩

1. But let's be honest... Mr. Darcy is worth the wait! ↩

1. This has the effect, by the way, of making me very sleepy after dinner! ↩

1. This is not, after all, “How to Succeed in Long Distance Relationships Without Really Trying”! ↩

Libiamo!: Opera’s Love Affair with Booze

"This opera has quite a structured palate, with a long finish, but do you find the nose lacks complexity?" A second-half season preview from our chorister couple Scott & Lianne in their own, inimitable style.

Patrick Carfizzi as Frank, Michael Fabiano as Alfred and Susanna Phillips as Rosalinde in Strauss' Die Fledermaus. Photo by Ken Howard/ Metropolitan Opera.

By Lianne Coble-Dispensa & Scott Dispensa

If, amidst the tsunami of the weekend's various political activities, you missed the live HD broadcast of Bartlett Sher's inspired production of Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, fear not! There will be an encore broadcast in movie theaters around the country on Wednesday, January 25th at 6:30pm. And, of course, you'll have 7 more opportunities to witness the “white hot sensuality and impassioned lyricism” (New York Times) of Vittorio Grigolo and Diana Damrau live at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City (the show closes on March 18th).  

One might say this could be a cause for celebration! At least, Scott & I seem to think so. And when we celebrate, the first thing that comes to mind is wine. And, of course, why shouldn’t it? Opera and alcohol have maintained a friendly relationship throughout the centuries. Think of the operas with delightfully raucous party scenes: La Traviata, Die Fledermaus, Otello, The Merry Widow, Cavalleria Rusticana, and even Roméo et Juliette! 

So, to pair with this sumptuous piece, we recommend a wine from the region closest to Verona, where Romeo & Juliette is set: namely, an intensely-flavored, dark-hued Amarone della Valpolicella. If you’re interested in a little nosh to go with your tipple, some asiago cheese (or pecorino romano) drizzled with a little bit of honey will do the trick!

Emily Pulley as Valencienne and Paul Groves as Camille in Lehar's "The Merry Widow." Photo: Ken Howard/ Metropolitan Opera

If you couldn’t tell already, Scott & I love wine (particularly Scott). When we’re not at the Metropolitan Opera rehearsing, staging, or performing one of the 24 operas that feature the chorus, we’re often home drinking wine, talking about wine, going to wine tastings, planning wine-centric summer vacations to Napa or France, or maintaining our (very humble) wine cellar. Scott also has a soft spot for in-the-weeds, educational wine tomes. The books on his bedside table include (and I’m not kidding) “The Complete Bordeaux”, “The Oxford Companion to Wine”, and “A Wine & Food Guide to the Loire”.

I swear, we do have other hobbies.

At any rate, at this point in the year, we have 11 more chorus shows to open, 2 shows that are making their return to the schedule after a small hiatus (Don Giovanni & Aida), and one show (Werther) that doesn’t include chorus, but deserves mention anyway since it’s absolutely gorgeous and worth the trip. So, we’ve taken the liberty to offer you a wine (or alcohol) pairing for each of the 14 shows that are left this season. Enjoy a pre-theater glass, or hit the pub after the show. Either way, enjoy yourselves responsibly. Cheers!

Carmen

Opens: January 19th

What to Drink:

While the story itself is fairly dark, the joyous effervescence of the music would pair well with pair with a nice glass of Cava, Spain’s famous sparkling wine.

Rigoletto

George Gagnidze in the title role of Verdi's Rigoletto. Photo by Richard Termine/ Metropolitan Opera.

Opens: January 20th

What to Drink:

Verdi originally intended the character of Rigoletto to be the court jester of Mantua, in Italy. If we were going for a traditional pairing, we’d offer a nice Nebbiolo from one of Barbaresco’s traditional producers in the Lombardy region of Italy.

However, since the Met’s production has set the story in decadent, overtly masculine 1960s Las Vegas, we were thinking you might enjoy this performance with a nice Canadian Club & soda. Or, heck, a martini.

Rusalka

Opens: February 2nd

What to Drink:

It’s not too often that one gets to see an opera written by a Czech composer, in the Czech language, AND based on a Czech fairytale! So, we recommend jumping headlong into a glass of pilsner, which originated in the town of Pilsen (a city that was originally located in the Austrian Republic, but is now part of the Czech Republic)!

Better yet, try a traditional Czech drink called the Beton: a mixture of the Czech Republic’s famous liquor, Becherovka (a potent bitter said to help digestion), and tonic water.

I Puritani

Opens: February 10th

What to Drink:

The Puritans of Plymouth weren’t big fans of “the sauce”, so we’ll encourage you to abstain from the sampling of spirits to get yourself in the right mindset for this opera.

Lianne suggests a non-alcoholic Cape Cod cocktail! While vodka is often an ingredient, you can leave that out and simply mix cranberry juice and lime juice with club soda. Ah, a beverage even a Puritan could appreciate.

Werther

Opens: February 16th, 2017

What to Drink:

This achingly beautiful story of unattainable love is set in the town of Wetzlar, Germany, which isn’t too far from the border of France. So, Scott was thinking that a Pinot Gris from Zind-Humbrecht would do nicely. The sweetness or dryness of Zind-Humbrecht wines varies greatly between vintages, which is why they created a Sweetness Index ranging between 1-5. So, if you’re looking for a wine to pair with the first act, go with a 5. If you’re looking for something drier and more austere to pair with the final few acts, then go with a 1.

Sonya Yoncheva as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata. Photos by Ken Howard/ Metropolitan Opera.

La Traviata

Opens: February 24th

What to Drink:

Could the ideal pairing be champagne? Si, certo! Violetta, the star of the show, loves a proper party, so libiamo!

Idomeneo

Opens: March 6th

What to Drink:

Scott & Lianne are, admittedly, not well-versed in the wines of Greece (or, more specifically, Crete, where Idomeneo’s story is set.). We are even less knowledgeable about what the royalty were drinking in 1200 B.C. Just putting that out there. Nevertheless, we can get creative and offer you a taste of Retsina, a Greek white (or rosé) resinated wine. Resinated, by the way, means that the wine was fermented with small pieces of pine resin, creating a truly unique palate. Retsina has been part of Greece’s drinking history for at least 2000 years, so that’s as close as we’re going to get to the days of Idomeneo. If you don’t feel like being that adventurous, enjoy a chilled glass of ouzo with a hefty mezedakia platter.

Fidelio

Opens: March 16th

What to Drink:

Scott & Lianne diverted WILDLY on their ideas for alcohol pairings with Fidelio, Beethoven’s operatic masterpiece (and, incidentally, the only opera he wrote). Scott, with his extensive knowledge of wine, thought Beethoven’s Austrian background meant a pairing with a nice, full-bodied, mineral-y glass of Riesling. Lianne, considering that the setting of the opera is in a prison, felt that the more appropriate beverage would be a mug of Prison Wine, preferably fermented in a garbage bag under one’s cot, and chugged quickly before the guards catch you. Though she also maintains that, since the prison is located in Spain, a nice Rioja could work. So, you know… you have choices. Who are we to judge?

Eugene Onegin

Bill Irwin as Frosch in J. Strauss' "Die Fledermaus." Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.

Opens: March 30th

What to Drink:

Lianne & Scott were torn on what was more appropriate for this opulent Russian classic. Do we pour out a couple shots of Russian Standard vodka, or go with a nice glass of champagne? Lest we forget, the Russian aristocracy of the 18th and 19th centuries were heavily influenced by French culture. So we’d say go with your gut: if you’re feeling rustic, then enjoy your vodka. If you’re feeling fancy, pour yourself a glass of bubbly. Either way, За здоровье!

Aida

Returns: March 23rd

What to Drink:

Ah, Aida. Let’s cheerfully ignore the fact that this opera is set in Egypt, and focus on the juicy parts: Aida is a grand, opulent show, written by an Italian composer, sung in Italian, full of Italian bravado, big voices, and a cast of thousands! (Well, maybe just hundreds.) Keeping these things in mind, Scott & I think a beefy, knock-you-off-your-feet Barolo would be the way to go to celebrate the glories of Egitto!

Der Rosenkavalier

Opens: April 13th

What to Drink:

Just because our production of Der Rosenkavalier features some luxury casting (Renee Fleming, Elīna Garanča, and Erin Morley in the 3rd act trio?! Come ON. Bliss.) doesn’t mean you must splurge on a luxury wine! We’ll be looking at Viennese offerings, since our director, Robert Carsen, has set the scene in Vienna in the early 1900s. There are several delicious Viennese wines that won’t break the bank. Why not try a light, perfume-y Grüner Veltliner? Or, take a chance on a glass of Blaufränkisch, an Austrian red varietal which can be rich and full-bodied, with notes of spice.

Simon Keenlyside in the title role of Thomas' "Hamlet." Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.

Don Giovanni

Returns: April 26th

What to Drink:

The Spanish legend of Don Juan (or, in Italian, Don Giovanni), the fictional womanizing hedonist, deserves to be paired with a full-bodied, muscular Priorat (made from Garnacha, Cariñena, and a blend of other red varietals), or an opulent, oaky Ribera del Duero (usually 100% Tempranillo grapes). I imagine the Don, who sings a famous aria (“Finch’han da vino”) about the, um, benefits of wine, would approve of either of these choices.

The Flying Dutchman

Opens: April 25th

What to Drink:

When you’re sailing the seas in search of true love, it’s good to have liquor around that can weather the long journey. Why not a cold shot of Jenever, the juniper-flavored national liquor of the Netherlands, and also, the first gin! After you’ve arrived on land, pour a glass of German “Hock”, which is what the English termed wine from Germany until almost the 20th century!

Cyrano de Bergerac

Opens: May 2nd

What to Drink:

We’ve arrived at one of Scott’s favorite topics: the wines of France! Our last opera of the season begins at the Hotel de Bourgogne, which is the perfect opportunity to sample the exquisite (and, erm, often pricey) wines of the Burgundy region. Scott would like to offer two options: the Millionaire’s Delight, and the Bourgogne for the Bourgeois. (Or, in other words, the wine that the rest of us can afford.) If you’ve just won the lottery and money is no object, go for a bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti-Romanée-Conti, a Pinot Noir from a monopole vineyard, which means it is one of the rare vineyards in Burgundy owned by one domaine only. This is one of the finest, and most expensive, bottles you can buy. So, good luck. For the rest of us, find a nice village-level Meursault, which, as a Chardonnay, is one of our personal favorites.

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Scott and Lianne enjoying their favorite... hobby...

Lianne Coble-Dispensa & Scott Dispensa are a pair of lucky newlyweds (if three years counts as new!) that get to work together every day at the Metropolitan Opera. Lianne is currently in the middle of her second year as a full-time chorus member, and Scott is on his seventh year! They swear that they don’t just drink wine all the time. In fact, in their spare time, they enjoy running (Lianne is a 3-time marathoner, and Scott is an ultramarathoner, which is insanely impressive), cycling, general gym-rat activities, cooking constantly, eating (which they might like just as much as drinking), singing at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and spending far too much time with their two cats, Maximillien de Robespierre and Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. They live in New Jersey, and they actually like it.

It’s a beautiful day for a Dress Rehearsal; Let’s sing two!

A running diary of the first ever double-final-dress-rehearsal day in Met Opera history (or at least that anyone can remember!)

Scenes from Carmen & Rigoletto. Photos: Ken Howard/Met Opera

by Edward Hanlon

There are two season premieres at the Metropolitan Opera this week: Carmen on Thursday (1/19) and Rigoletto on Friday (1/20). Back-to-back openings? Pretty unusual! But what it took to prepare for them was even more unusual. On Monday (1/16) the Met had no public performance in the evening. However, that doesn't mean all was quiet; in the morning was the final dress rehearsal for Carmen and, in the evening, Rigoletto. Two final dress rehearsals in one day! As far as I could discover that had never happened before! For the occasion I decided to keep a running diary of the day ¹ . So, without further ado:

Part the First: Carmen Final Dress Rehearsal

10:00 a.m. EST - The calm before the storm. Time for a cup of tea ² , breakfast, and a chance to read through final notes from the director.

10:02 - That was enough relaxing! Let’s get this costume on! First up: a bored and somewhat lascivious ³ soldier in Seville.

10:17 - Dressed and ready to go. Wait, what do you mean the rehearsal isn’t started yet? All right! Thirteen more minutes to finish my tea!

10:27 - Called to stage… I’ll check back in after the scene!

11:01 - Back in the dressing room. To recap: the soldiers were very unhelpful to Michaela, the factory girls sang a very beautiful chorus, Carmen did her sexy Habanara thing then met Don José. Somehow I don’t think this relationship is going to end well.

11:02 - No more soldier for me (until Act 4). Costume change to gypsy with a great hat.

11:05 - The female chorus called to stage for the fight at the end of Act 1. I’m still in mid-gypsy costume change. Get it ladies!

Two of the ladies of the chorus, Rebecca Carvin and Marvis Martin, getting into character (The cigarettes are fake don't worry!)

11:12 - Gypsy costume change finished. Ready to go down to stage and watch some amazing flamenco dancing from our ballet corps.

11:15 - Quick recap of what’s happened on stage while we were off: Big fight; Carmen wins but is arrested by Zuniga. However, she sings the Segedilla so well that Don Jose helps her escape. End of Act 1.

11:22 - Called to stage. This morning I’m going for “mysterious gypsy” ⁴ ; let’s see how it goes! I’ll be back in a bit!

11:50 - Back in the dressing room ⁵ . Time for another costume change: going from regular gypsy to smuggler-gypsy.

11:58 - Not a ton of plot during that last scene by the way. But we did get to hear and sing a great “Votre toast” with our resident toreador Escamillo. On stage things are really heating up now between Carmen and José. Looks like he’s going to join in on all the smuggler fun in Act 3 after all!

12:00 - Gypsy smugglers called to stage. Zuniga is going to try to arrest all of us which… umm… is not going to go well for him…

12:15 - Done with Act 2! Intermission! Time for a quick lunch to tank up for Act 3 smuggling in the hills outside Seville.

12:17 - Let’s see what’s in the cafeteria: Penne Bolognese, garbanzo beans and roasted Zucchini… hmm… not the most Carmen-Spanish-infused meal I’ve ever seen. Works well for Rigoletto this evening though!

12:29 - Heading to stage soon. This is going to be a long one (we are onstage or waiting in the wings offstage for the rest of the opera) so I’ll see you at the end of the show. Not a ton of recap necessary for the second half. Things go downhill in the Carmen/José relationship ⁶ , Escamillo plays third wheel, Michaela plays fourth wheel, and eventually José has just had enough and loses it.

12:35 - In the meantime the chorus does a lot of smuggling, I fall asleep on stage ⁷ , wake up, and then do some more smuggling. In act 4 (after a quick change from gypsy into soldiers and townspeople costumes) ⁸ we are very excited about the bullfight ⁹ .

12:44 - On our way to stage for Act 3. No one’s going to catch this smuggler!

2:04 - And we’re back. Great show! Can’t wait for opening night on Thursday!

2:13 - Out of costume and heading home. We have 4 hours between now and our next call. Big afternoon planned running errands and memorizing music for I Puritani (which opens on February 10th) ¹⁰ . Talk to you in a few hours!

Sophie Koch in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen. Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.

Sophie Koch in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen. Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.

Marcelo Álvarez as Don José and Sophie Koch in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen. Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.

Sophie Koch in the title role and Kyle Ketelsen as Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen. Photo by Karen Almond/ Metropolitan Opera.

Part the Second: Rigoletto Final Dress Rehearsal

6:28 - Hi everyone! The chorus has returned to the opera house. Tonight is the second half of our Final Dress Rehearsal double bill: Rigoletto! It’s Michael Mayer’s 60’s Las Vegas production so that means fantastic suits, greased hair, mixed drinks and beautiful showgirls.

6:31 - Time to get into costume. There are no real costume changes in Rigoletto so I better do this one well.

6:39 - Tuxedo on, Purple alligator skin shoes laced, hair slicked, only one thing remains… tying my own bowtie…

6:42 - Still working on that bowtie

6:45 - ^@#^%@$^#@ bowtie...

6:48 - I DID IT!!!!

6:49 - I'm not going to lie... things got a little hairy over the past 10 minutes. But be not afraid; I have triumphed over the forces of... umm... the tyranny of... uhhh... the bow tie. And yes, I could have asked my dresser to tie it and she would have been able to do it in 30 seconds but somehow I feel... more.. I don't know... like James Bond ¹¹ this way I guess.

6:52 - Heading down to stage soon. A lot happens in the first act but the cliff notes is that Rigoletto is the court jester but makes fun of the wrong guy who curses him. Getting cursed early on in a Verdi opera is always a bad thing.

6:55 - Places! Let’s get this thing started!

7:22 - Scene 1 finished; back in the dressing room. All sorts of beautiful music happening onstage right now. Some fantastic duets and then the famously sublime aria “Caro nome” by Gilda. When we go back down the stage we will decide that her aia is so beautiful that we want to sing a chorus of our own (“Zitti, zitti”), and then abduct her. Rigoletto, Gilda’s father, is understandably unhappy about this development!

7:48 - Back down to stage for the abduction scene. No costume changes this time, just adding a mask ¹² . Be back soon though (this is not a terribly long scene) and then intermission. ¹³

8:04 - Act 1 finished. Things are already beginning to go south for Rigoletto... I wonder if they get better in Act 2 ¹⁴ .

8:05 - Time for dinner. Let's see what's hot at the cafeteria.

8:07 - huh... penne bolognese, garbanzo beans and roasted zucchini... how... umm... exciting...

8:14 - Things that get better with age: fine wine, revenge and... penne bolognese?

A few of the beautiful patterns onstage during Rigoletto.

8:18 - So, the second half of Rigoletto is pretty wild. I don’t really want to attempt a synopsis ¹⁵ but suffice it to say things get very dark on the way to a tragic ending ¹⁶ . In the meantime the chorus sleep on stage ¹⁷ , act very hung-over, taunt Rigoletto, murder Monterone, and then, in a very abrupt change of pace, vocally personify a storm from offstage. As I said, things get pretty wild.

8:29 - Called to stage for the Act 2! Here goes!

9:08 - Back in the dressing room for the final intermission. I have to say, I always feel a little sleazy after that last scene. We are pretty unrepentantly cruel to poor Rigoletto who, while maybe not the nicest guy in the world, doesn’t merit the fate he gets in this opera. Still, nothing a nice ginger lemon herbal tea during the set change won’t fix ¹⁸ .

9:10 - Speaking of a set change, I really would be remiss if I didn’t mention the amazing work the stage crew is doing today. Both Carmen and Rigoletto are huge operas with correspondingly massive sets. Plus, dress rehearsals are always tricky for scenery purposes because of the lack of rehearsal. And yet they’ve been on top of things and as efficient as ever. Bravi!

9:21 - Time to do one last clothing change. This, however, is a welcome one: The chorus sing our role of “personification of the storm” from offstage, meaning we can be in street clothes. So off with the tux and on with my own clothes; we’re in the home stretch!

9:36 - My tea is finished. Places have been called for the Duke. He sings the not-unfamous aria "La donna è mobile" and then we’re next.

9:48 - To the stage!

10:03 - And we are done. Long but very fulfilling day. It looks like we have two very strong shows to open at the end of the week. So, after an unprecedented day at the Metropolitan Opera, I wish you all a very lovely evening!

A scene from Act I of Michael Mayer's production of Verdi's "Rigoletto."
Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Željko Lucic as the title character of Verdi's "Rigoletto."
Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Olga Peretyatko as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto. Photo by Richard Termine/ Metropolitan Opera.

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Edward Hanlon, graduate of McGill University and University of Michigan, is a happy Long Island boy making good with the Metropolitan Opera. Favorite roles include Figaro, Sparafucile, Dick Deadeye, Sarastro and Nick Bottom with companies such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Lincoln Center Theatre, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival. He dreams of singing another Figaro with his beautiful wife, soprano Tanya Roberts. His first novel is is due to be released this summer ... at the end of the 2017-18 season ... umm... someday? Check out his website and follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

1. … à la Bill Simmons NBA Draft Diary style. ↩

1. I don't care what everyone else says. Coffee tastes gross (and no amount of milk and sugar will change that). ↩

1. … I think my motivation for the entire time I’m on stage is “check out the pretty girls” ↩

1. It’s possible that “mysterious gypsy” might end up looking suspiciously like “tired gypsy” though. ↩

1. … and for those wondering, I was very mysterious and not at all tired during that last scene. ↩

1. huh… and I had such a good feeling about those two. ↩

1. I swear I am just acting ↩

1. Shout out to our helpful, hardworking and patient dressers! ↩

1. … and remarkably oblivious to the very loud domestic tragedy occurring between José and Carmen! ↩

1. I’m probably going to sneak a nap in there too! ↩

1. ... or a waiter ↩

1. ... the better to abduct Gilda with ↩

1. .. or, as I like to call it, DINNER TIME! ↩

1. Spoiler alert: they do not. ↩

1. I don’t think intermission is long enough for that. ↩

1. What did I tell you about getting cursed in a Verdi opera? NOT A GOOD THING! ↩

1. Yes. Again. ↩

1. For me that is. All the ginger lemon tea in the world won’t help Rigoletto and Gilda now. ↩

The Met Opera Chorus Recommends: Gifts for the Holidays!

An exhaustive gift guide for the opera lover in your life from the Metropolitan Opera Chorus!

By Edward Hanlon

     It’s that time of year!  The annual season of love, joy and family.  Oh… and gifts… gifts are kind of a thing this time of year too!  With that in mind, the Met Opera Chorus have put their collective heads together to find the perfect gift for your biggest opera loving friend or family member.  So, without further ado, to the list!

For everyone:

Chorus is the new black! Try out these new snazzy Met Chorus Artists shirts and hats. Support your favorite chorus in the world and look sharp while doing it!

For the last-minute Christmas carder:

The world’s opera orchestra not only plays a mean Nabucco, but they also have a fantastic cartoonist who illustrates the trials and tribulations that come with the job; Emmanuelle Ayrton has released a series of Christmas cards, so head over to their website and check them out along with all the other Met Orchestra gear they’ve got for sale!

For the “let’s stay inside and drink hot toddies” opera lover:

Who doesn’t need another mug!?!?! I certainly always do! Celebrate the Met Opera House’s 50th anniversary with your favorite hot beverage ¹ .

The Recording that you need to own.  Dare I say it? The greatest opera recording ever:

What is the greatest opera recording ever? Not an easy question to answer! But I’m going to give it a shot anyway. So here it is: a live recording of Turandot from 1966 with Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli, Mirella Freni and Bonaldo Giaiotti conducted by Zubin Mehta. There are no arguments against it being the greatest thing ever. End. Of. Story. ²

For that special (though slightly cold) Brünnhilde in your life:

It's happened to the best of us. We're walking along, singing some fantastic Wagnerian high notes and then our ears get cold! Thank goodness they have the answer to that particularly troublesome issue at the Met Opera Shop!

For the slightly spooky, slightly cooky opera lover:

Edward Gorey is the best. I will accept no argument on that front. The pantheon of great artists goes something like this: Monet, El Greco, Matisse, and Edward Gorey ³ . And, to top it off, he loved opera. With that in mind this print is looking kind of like a no-lose situation !

For your tenor friend:

Let’s be clear about this: tenors are, at best, a necessary evil ⁴ . But, even I have to admit there have been some good ones. Check out this fantastic book on the great tenors who sing and have sung at the Met available at the Met Opera Shop.

For the person who likes Mozart… I mean really... really likes Mozart…

The newest, longest, most authoritativest collection of Mozart ever! It’s 225 discs long and apparently was the most-sold CD in the world last year (take that Drake!)

For the opera lover who has everything:

This is the big one. I’ve had a crush on the Sputnik chandeliers since stepping on the Met stage 3 years ago but did you know that you could actually own a piece of the Tiffany original? In the Met Opera Shop it says “price available upon request” ⁵ but still… it’s just kind of nice to know it’s there...

For the us all. For our future: 

The holidays can be a lot of fun and there is so much joy to be found in the act of giving gifts to those you love. However, it's not just a time to think about the people you know, but everyone, and to spread some of that joy a little wider. There are so many organizations doing great work that could use our help this time of year. Arts to Grow and Feed Your Mind Music are two local New York groups so please, go to their websites, learn about them and do what you can to help ⁶ !

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Edward Hanlon, graduate of McGill University and University of Michigan, is a happy Long Island boy making good with the Metropolitan Opera. Favorite roles include Figaro, Sparafucile, Dick Deadeye, Sarastro and Nick Bottom with companies such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Lincoln Center Theatre, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival. He dreams of singing another Figaro with his beautiful wife, soprano Tanya Roberts. His first novel is is due to be released this summer ... at the end of the 2017-18 season ... umm... someday? Check out his website and follow him on Facebook or Instagram.

1. Your editor’s current favorite recipe is for a port hot toddy found on the New York Times website but goes something like this:

   INGREDIENTS: 3 ounces ruby port, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange juice, 1 cinnamon stick, Water just off the boil and 1 1-inch-wide ribbon of orange peels studded with 3-5 cloves.

   PREPARATION: In a mug or heatproof glass, stir the port, sugar and juices together with the cinnamon stick, leaving the cinnamon in the vessel. Add hot water to fill, and garnish with the clove-studded orange peel. ↩

1. ...except Solti’s Ring cycle is pretty good, de los Angerles’ & Bjorling’s Boheme has some nice moments, Milnes, Sutherland & Pavarotti’s Rigoletto ain’t too shabby, Sill’s Giulio Cesare does pretty nicely and Baltsa & Carreras make some nice sounds in Carmen… hmm… maybe there still is a little debate to be had on this question! ↩

1. Consider this my open letter of complaint to both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art for Gorey's lack of inclusion!. ↩

1. In the interest of full disclosure I should probably admit that I’m a bass. ↩

1. ...which never sounds terribly promising! ↩

1. Shout out to Lucy Dhegrae, the founder of the fantastic Resonant Bodies Festival, for her help in researching these charities! ↩

A Chorister's Bohemian Rhapsody

A deep dive into the many casting choices of La bohème

by Edward Hanlon

La bohème Act 1

(The scene: a shabby radio-studio garret, overlooking the rooftops of Washington D.C.)

Rodolfo: Robert Siegel (Who but the host of All Things Considered could play this part?!)
Mimi: Lakshmi Singh (Hands down best name in NPR, "ma il suo nome è Lucia”.)
Marcello: Steve Inskeep
Musetta: Terry Gross (That flirt!)
Colline: the Car Talk guys (Controversial pick, I know, particularly since one of them has sadly passed away, but their combination of wisdom and humor is perfect for the philosopher-bass.)
Schunard: Ira Glass (Understudy: Ira Flatow)
Alcindoro: Peter Sagal
Benoit: Bill Kurtis (the host & voice of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me should have the comedic chops for these two roles)
Parpingol: an NPR pledge drive
Chorus: the many and variously accented correspondents of the BBC News Service

       It’s possible that I’ve been listening to a bit too much NPR lately ¹ . Combine that with Bohème rehearsal and I’m having some… odd day dreams. There’s just something about Bohème that gets into your head, And yet, I’m in my third year in the Metropolitan Opera Chorus. I have 30 performances of Bohème under my belt and that number will be far higher by the end of my career ² . Shouldn’t that familiarity breed boredom (if not contempt)? After all, if it isn’t routine yet, it will be.

       So how can I possibly still have Bohème on the brain?

       Well, to start with, it’s the luscious music, brilliant orchestration and devastating tragedy ³ . And the Met adds a whole new dimension to the drama. The Franco Zefferelli production is iconic ⁴ (not to mention beautiful and heartbreaking) ⁵ and has become a vital part of New York City’s cultural landscape. For me though, it’s all about the singers throughout the years. The production premiered on December 14th, 1981 with a dream cast Teresa Stratas as Mimì, José Carreras as Rodolfo, Renato Scotto as Musetta, Richard Stilwell, Allan Monk as Schunard, James Morris as Colline and Italo Tajo as Alcindoro/Benoit. (I’m going to admit that it’s a bit better than my NPR cast.) Over time nothing has changed: names like Domingo, Freni, Frittoli, Netrebko and Alagna have graced that Parisian garret ⁶ . It’s no different this year: Ailyn Pérez, Kristine Opolais, Dmyto Popov, Piotr Beczała, and Michael Fabiano will carry on that grad legacy. ⁷

I’m going to admit something: I’ve just listed some amazing singers but not one of them is in my favorite cast. That’s because it’s not my favorite cast because they are the greatest singers ever (although they are some pretty incredible singers!) It’s my favorite cast because of the deep and personal connection this opera creates. On February 22nd, 2003, a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed freshman in college, who had never seen an opera, spent a night at The Met; he saw Bohème. The cast starred Elena Kelessidi, Ramón Vargas, Ainhoa Arteta, Vassily Gerello, Earle Patriarco ⁸ and Richard Bernstein. That was the evening he decided to devote himself to becoming an opera singer. Now, as I look back fourteen years later, I could not be happier with the choice I made. I saw (what will always be for me) the greatest cast perform the greatest production of the greatest opera in the world.

       So, you ask me, why do I have Bohème on the brain? Why am I still excited for every performance? ⁹ Because it’s my opportunity to give someone in the audience what my greatest cast gave me: a love of opera.

1. I need my news in the morning! ↩

1. … at this pace, just under 900! ↩

1. umm.. yeah… Boheme makes me use lots of adjectives… ↩

1. Trivia Time: there are three typos on the Act 2 Paris street shop signs. Can you tell me where they are? ↩

1. My wife, Tanya, cannot see the third act snowfall without crying (which is perfect because it means that she doesn’t see me crying too!) ↩

1. For the sake of brevity there is no way I can list even a fraction in the body of the article. That’s what footnotes are for: John Alexander, Renato Capecchi, Angela Gheorghiu, Hei-Kyung Hong, Frank Lapardo, Catherine Malfitano, Mark Oswald, Louis Quilico,Teresa Żylis-Gara to name just a few more! You could get happily lost in the Met Archives forever. ↩

1. Not to mention choristers Daniel Smith, Yohan Yi, Joseph Turi and Raymond Aparentado playing Parpigol, the sergeant, the officer and a dude selling prunes from Tours, respectively. ↩

1. … who I now sit across from in the chorus dressing room! ↩

1. … or wake up from day-dreams wondering whether Steve Inskeep or Kai Ryssdal would make a better Marcello or how Robert Siegel and Lakshmi Singh’s vocal colors would compliment each other in Rodolfo and Mimi’s act one duet? ↩

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Edward Hanlon, graduate of McGill University and University of Michigan, is a happy Long Island boy making good with the Metropolitan Opera. Favorite roles include Figaro, Sparafucile, Dick Deadeye, Sarastro and Nick Bottom with companies such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Lincoln Center Theatre, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival. He dreams of singing another Figaro with his beautiful wife, soprano Tanya Roberts. His first novel is is due to be released this summer ... at the end of the 2017-18 season ... umm... someday? Check out his website and follow him on Facebook or Instagram.

Spotlight on Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts

La Bohème, December 5, 2015

By Daniel Clark Smith

Chorister Daniel Clark Smith joins an elite group of performers with his performance of Parpignol in La Bohème which marks his 100th solo performance at the Metropolitan Opera. The Performers Report, found on the Met’s website in the Archives, lists all company members who have performed 100 solo roles or more. Conductors, Dancers, and Singers are listed, with big names (Maestro James Levine at 2491) and small (dancer Linda Gelinas at 436, who just retired from the ballet last season) on the same formidable list. Daniel joins over 40 current and retired choristers in this distinction. You have seen the Chorus nightly as the townspeople and villagers in any given opera, but there are many opera roles that are actually performed by singers from the Chorus.

For example, did you know that La Bohème features not only the tragic love story of Mimì and Rodolfo, but there are four Chorus soloists playing small subplots in the opera? In the second Act's hustle and bustle, Parpignol sells toys to the Parisian children (one of them has his own solo, Parpignol-style), and the (uncredited) vendor sells “Prugne di Tours!”. In the third Act, soloists from the Chorus portray the Sergeant and Customs Officer manning Paris' city gate. Incidentally, these two soloists are also on the Performers Report — Jason Hendrix (Sergeant) at 101, and Joseph Turi (Officer) at 109.

Daniel’s house debut was as a Villager in Pagliacci, but he’s also been a Cenobite Monk in Thaïs, a Lackey in Der Rosenkavalier, and a soldier in Wozzeck. Out of 100 solos, Parpignol is his most performed role at 63 performances as of Saturday. He enjoys these brief opportunities to shine, but also to contribute to the ensemble of actors and singers on stage at the Metropolitan Opera each night.

Performing with Daniel each night in La Bohème is a donkey who pulls his toy cart. These photos are from the 2005-06 season, when our resident donkey wouldn't go anywhere without her newborn! Parpignol needs to be ready for anything, and so both donkeys accompanied him onstage (along with an animal handler). While W. C. Fields is often credited with the saying, “Never perform with children or animals,” Parpignol must be accommodating!